How Spring Valley Fire Is Saving Time and Staying Ready
August 17, 2026 by Kate Nadolski
Across the United States, thousands of volunteer fire departments answer emergency calls for service every day. These departments protect their communities with firefighters who balance emergency response alongside full-time jobs, family responsibilities, and everything else that comes with daily life. Yet they face the same reporting requirements, training demands, and operational responsibilities as any career department.
The Spring Valley Fire Department in New York is one of those departments. Staffed entirely by volunteers, the agency responds to about 1,500 fire calls each year. For Spring Valley and many others, finding ways to reduce administrative work is not just about convenience; it means giving volunteer firefighters more time to focus on protecting their communities.
The Spring Valley Fire Department uses Tyler’s Fire & EMS suite to streamline their operations. From National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) reporting to digitizing prevention processes like truck checks, the department is saving hours while giving firefighters the resources to do more with less.
Faster Reporting and Increased Flexibility for NERIS Compliance
As departments across the country are faced with starting and maintaining NERIS compliance, Spring Valley has already made the transition, according to former fire chief and volunteer firefighter Larry Bolson.
“We’re 100% NERIS compliant,” said Bolson.
“What used to take us six to eight hours to complete at the end of the month can now be done in under an hour when we stay on top of reports.”
Before moving to Tyler’s Fire & EMS suite, monthly reporting was a paper-driven process. Reports had to be completed manually, mailed, and corrected by hand if errors were found.
Now, incident information flows into the reporting process, allowing staff to complete reports in real time and submit them electronically.
Because the solution is web-based, reporting can also be completed from virtually anywhere. Bolson, who spends part of the year in Florida, continues to help complete reports remotely while collaborating with other firefighters who are back at the station and on scene in New York. Despite being over a thousand miles away, he still has everything he needs right at his fingertips.
“If one of us is working on reports, the other can jump in at the same time,” he said.
“It really speeds up the process.”
This is the type of flexibility that helps volunteer fire departments thrive and stay 100% NERIS compliant.
Prevention Processes That Save Time
The department is seeing similar improvements beyond incident reporting.
Spring Valley recently replaced paper truck check sheets with digital inspections in Tyler’s Fire & EMS suite. The change has given engineers an easier way to document vehicle readiness while making records immediately available instead of sitting in a binder.
“The engineers told me truck checks used to take an hour to an hour and a half on paper,” Bolson said. “Now they’re finishing them in about 20 minutes.”
The department also expanded the system to track gear washing, equipment records, member physicals, and training history. Using digital, configurable forms and automated reminders, firefighters can complete tasks from their phones while leadership gains instant access to documentation.
“The more I use the system, the more I find ways to make it work for us,” Bolson said.
For the Spring Valley Fire Department, technology is not about adding more to firefighters’ plates. It's about removing unnecessary work so volunteer first responders can spend less time behind a desk and more time focused on protecting communities.